Q: I have three blackberry plants that have been growing for three years. This year my crop has been great, but I have a problem with the ripe fruit. I have looked online, and the closest photos I find say...

Q: My wife noticed this on a blackberry. It looks like a fruit is growing from the cane. A: It’s a blackberry knot gall, caused when a tiny wasp inserts eggs on the blackberry cane. The wound causes the plant...

Q: We have a thornless blackberry vine. The fruit has been ripening well up until the last day or so. Several of the drupeletes on particular fruits have all of a sudden begun to turn white. A: It’s both sunscald...

Winter and early spring are the best time to prune fruiting plants, whether trees, vines or bushes. The purpose of pruning is to train a plant to its strongest form and to get the correct ratio of leaves to developing...

Georgia is a great state for fruit production. Unfortunately, it is also a great state for the insects and diseases which limit fruit production. Growing fruit organically is possible…but it demands a huge amount of time and effort. Most novices...

Q: I am a science teacher and always tell my students that plants bring out the best in people. I’m planning a garden at my home and would like to place a blackberry bush against a fence row. I have...

Q: I have found strange bugs eating my blackberry leaves. They are tan, about the size of a BB, and are hard shelled. When I touch one it falls off the plant and acts dead. Damaged leaves have notches along...

Q: I recently purchased a ‘Tartarian’ cherry tree at a home improvement store. I can’t find much information on growing it. Any info on this subject would be appreciated. A: Sweet cherry trees (‘Bing’, ‘Tartarian’, ‘Ranier’, etc) do not survive...

Q: A few weeks ago on your radio show you mentioned a new blackberry with large fruit. Can you tell me where I can get plants? A: I heard about the blackberry from Dr. Gerard Krewer, Extension Service fruit specialist....

Q: Please settle a family argument! I say kudzu has flowers – they say it does not. Who is right? A: How would there be baby kudzu if there were no seed?! Kudzu certainly has flowers – they are small,...

Q: I have rabbits eating my pansies! I love animals but is there anyway to discourage the rabbits without harming them? A: Both rabbits and caterpillars can consume pansies in fall. To distinguish between the two, examine your pansy leaves....

Q: Can you provide any recommendations as to what fruit trees produce well in this part of Georgia? A: Even though Georgia is known as “The Peach State”, peaches are not very easy to grow here. Plums are not much...

Q: I have found strange bugs eating my blackberry leaves. They are tan, about the size of a BB, and are hard shelled. When I touch one it falls off the plant and acts dead. Damaged leaves have notches along...

Q: I have planted several blackberry vines. Now sprouts are popping up all over the yard. They look like blackberries but the more they grow the less they seem to be. How can I identify what is the real blackberry...

Q: On a walk near our home we found what appears to be a blackberry bush on which the leaves on one side of a few stems are completely white. Some are half white and half green, including the stems....

Q: We have a wooded area just beyond our backyard. We would like to be able to use this area, but there is a thicket of green briar as an undergrowth throughout the woods. I’ve tried pulling them up by...